July 11, 2006

Watch this video ...

... of University of Wisconsin professor Kevin Barretton "Hannity & Colmes" last night. Barrett will be teaching a course that will be cover the topic of whether 9/11 was deliberately planned by George Bush and Co. Barrett just doesn't believe this was the case -- he KNOWS it was.

He claims, however, that he will not force students "to regurgitate" his views; he wants his students to "think critically." He claims "he always presents things in a fair and balanced manner."

Again, he doesn't think 9/11 was an "inside job," he knows it was.

While Hannity states he believes Barrett "might not be the best person to teach such a course (he'll have a captive audience) due to his [extremist] views on the matter," Barrett, towards the end responds that Hannity shouldn't be allowed to "spew his venom" on the air, that Fox News is the "biggest bunch of extremists around," and that FNC "should be taken off the air." That sure doesn't sound like a "fair and balanced" response to me!

I really could care less if guys like Barrett teach a course that [partly] covers 9/11 conspiracy theories. It's not a friggin' required course, so let whoever wants to take such a course take it, and make their own judgments about not only the course, but Barrett. If he proves to be unfair and a true nutjob, the course will be discontinued and Barrett'll have to teach something else. The free market at work, people!

UPDATE: David French at Phi Beta Cons has more on Barrett and UW. A university spokesman is quoted as saying "We cannot allow political pressure from critics of unpopular ideas to inhibit the free exchange of ideas."

I agree wholeheartedly. Except that universities do exactly that to ideas that they don't like. For instance, UW had to be "dragged kicking and screaming" (French's words) into "permitting RAs to hold Bible studies in their own rooms on their own time."